I don't care who's playing, there's nothing like a Saturday night match up in the Cup finals. There's something about Saturday night that just means "hockey" -- I guess it's the tradition of HNIC, but no matter what it is I get extra psyched. Yessiree, there is nothing so good as playoff hockey on a Saturday nighpffffffffffffffffffffffffffttttt

And to Sidney Crosby on winning his third career Cup and on being named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as MVP.

Congratulations are also in order for the Nashville Predators and more specifically their fans & (country music) celebrities, who turned Music City during the Stanley Cup Finals into an event to remember. Broadway Ave. was alit with everything the city of Nashville could offer in terms of support for their team, and an enthusiasm for the game of hockey here not seen since. Whoa, Nashville!

Although most of you didn't seem to enjoy the final, I did. Series highlights for me: Nashville crowd, Malkin/Kessel dynamic, Crosby the pro, NSH D, NSH team game opposed to PIT individuals, Cullen, Murray (2 Stanley Cups as a rookie), back to back, Crosby's legacy strengthened, guys battling through injuries and of course the end of the final game with the Stanley cup presentation and celebration.

I watched a lot of the playoffs and the changes I would like to see include: more penalties, offside review parameters being set (if "x" amount of time passes after an offside the goal is not reviewable and a skate off the ice but on or behind the line is NOT offside), harsher suspensions, protection of superstars, every-other-day games for the final.

I am still not entirely sure how PIT won back to back with the D they have. I always thought of guys like Niedamyer, Pronger, Lidstrom, Keith/Seabrook as being massive reasons teams won but PIT has broke the mold for sure.Maybe the Leafs don't need a new 1A and 1B D to take the next step?

Logged

Upon the wicked He will rain Jerseys; blue and white and burning waffles will be the portion of their cup.

I am still not entirely sure how PIT won back to back with the D they have. I always thought of guys like Niedamyer, Pronger, Lidstrom, Keith/Seabrook as being massive reasons teams won but PIT has broke the mold for sure.Maybe the Leafs don't need a new 1A and 1B D to take the next step?

The Pens are an outlier, who have 2 of the top 5 forwards in the league on their roster - and had an excellent #1 defenceman for last year's Cup run. They're not exactly a model that can be followed, nor does their success downplay the Leafs' need to improve their blueline.

Logged

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

The Penguins leveraged their tremendous forward depth and well above average goaltending into covering up for their lack of defense. Tactically, they went with high event strategies, giving up more chances against to gain more opportunities, since their forwards were of a class that could capitalize more often than not.

Their weak defense was tasked with playing aggressively at the offensive blueline to make up for their lack of speed and skill, which a) minimized time for the opponents, b) gave their forwards time to lend support.

I am still not entirely sure how PIT won back to back with the D they have. I always thought of guys like Niedamyer, Pronger, Lidstrom, Keith/Seabrook as being massive reasons teams won but PIT has broke the mold for sure.Maybe the Leafs don't need a new 1A and 1B D to take the next step?

I feel like we go through some version of this every year. Pittsburgh(as well as Tampa and Carolina) won their cups without a superstar on defense. New Jersey and Anaheim won theirs without a top tier centre(Getzlaf eventually became one but wasn't at the time). Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit and LA all won cups without elite goaltending and so on.

Flawed teams can win cups and, in fairness, with increasing parity every year a flawed team will win the cup. But you shouldn't aim for those flaws and you can't ignore the strengths of the team that paper over those flaws. Are the Leafs likely to have Crosby and Malkin down the middle? No, so we can't be the Penguins and we shouldn't aim for it.

You can't just measure things by successes. Far more teams have been undone by a bad or mediocre defense in the playoffs than have won in spite of it. You have to play the percentages and they're pretty good that you need top quality defensemen to win.

Logged

Give a man the reputation of an early riser and he can sleep 'til noon-Mark Twain